or high blood potassium. ask your doctor about entresto. tonight, america waits. and there is breaking news as we come on the air. movement tonight in the presidential election. the state of the race at this hour. news from the key states of michigan and wisconsin. late today, abc news projecting michigan for joe biden. abc news tonight can also characterize biden the apparent winner in wisconsin. getting him closer to 270. president trump and joe biden eyeing their paths to 270 electoral votes and all along, the key state of pennsylvania. if president trump can win pennsylvania, what happens? what will he need then? how arizona and nevada could play key roles. we'll take you through it all tonight. tom llamas standing by. and joe biden speaking late today after calling for calm and patience, telling supporters to keep the faith. what he said late today about what he sees in the next few days ahead.

mary bruce tonight with the biden campaign. president trump this evening taking legal action in an effort to stop the counting in michigan and some of the counting in pennsylvania. and tonight, his team calling for a recount in wisconsin. jon karl and what he's learning from inside the trump campaign tonight. and our teams from wisconsin to pennsylvania, from georgia to arizona, and what we could learn as early as tonight. america waits. a special edition of "world news tonight" begins now. good evening and it's great to have you with us here on this wednesday night. a very tense nation still waiting tonight to learn who will be the next president of the united states. so many americans exhausted by this pandemic, exhausted by these polarized times and now americans across this country are being asked for their patience as every vote is counted.

and we knew in this pandemic, it could take time. there is news coming in tonight on the election. two key states now, abc news can now project former vice president joe biden will win the state of michigan. this, of course, was a crucial part of biden's strategy to try to rebuild that blue wall for democrats. and with 100% of the precincts reporting in wisconsin tonight, abc news can characterize joe biden the apparent winner in wisconsin. we're being careful with the language because it's a very close race there. biden appearing to win by about the same margin president trump won that state four years ago. tonight, the president's campaign now saying it will demand a recount in wisconsin. so, where do things stand tonight? former vice president joe biden has won 21 states and washington, d.c. 253 electoral votes. president trump has won 23 states, 214 electoral votes. of course, this is all about reaching that key number, 270. and joe biden leading in the popular vote tonight by more than 3 million votes. here's the map. you can see the key battleground states there right there in

gray, where it's still too close to call, from pennsylvania, we go south there to north carolina and georgia, then out west to arizona and nevada, and you can see the great lakes states there, wisconsin and michigan, now blue for joe biden. we did hear from the former vice president joe biden late today about what he sees in the immediate days ahead and news tonight from the trump campaign now crafting its legal strategy moving forward, but we want to get right to the big board again tonight. where it's close, where we're still waiting. tom llamas with us again this evening. so, tom, wisconsin, michigan for joe biden, so, where does pennsylvania stand tonight? >> all right, let's dig in a little deeper on pennsylvania. this is the main battleground we're watching at this hour right now, david. i'm going to blow it up for you to put it here. if you look at the score right now, the amount of electoral votes, there's a spread of about 277,000. so, the president has a commanding lead. the problem right now for the president is, there's still a million ballots that have yet to be counted, right? so, you ask yourself, where are those ballots coming from? they're coming from areas where democrats do really well. the area of pittsburgh and the suburbs and the area of philadelphia and the suburbs, as

well. that's why democrats feel, they're confident they can eventually catch up. >> trump leading there, but the biden team saying they can catch up, given where those votes are. both campaigns sounding confident in pennsylvania. let's go south. north carolina and georgia. the trump campaign feeling good about both states but the biden camp still hopeful in georgia tonight? >> that's right. first in north carolina, david, president trump does have a lead there. let's dig in a little deeper in georgia and talk to you about the numbers again. when we talk about the numbers here, there is a 58,000-vote difference, it is razor tight in georgia right now. but here's the problem for the president. there's 200,000 votes that have yet to be counted. where are those votes coming from? they're coming from the democratic headquarters, essentially, in georgia, right there in atlanta, all those counties, that is the big blue area for democrats right now. that's where they've been able to drive up the score in other elections and that's why joe biden still feels he has a chance in georgia. >> all right, all eyes on metro atlanta to determine georgia. let's go out west, tom, arizona and nevada, very close and they're going to be pivotal.

>> yeah, that's right. so, in nevada, a very close race. joe biden is on top by about 8,000 votes, but let's dig in a little deeper in arizona. these are where the numbers are right now. in arizona, there's about a 90,000-vote difference. joe biden on top right now. but there's still 400,000 votes to go and this is why the president thinks he may have a chance in arizona. the problem, it's in maricopa county right now. maricopa county is phoenix, it's one of the largest cities in the entire state, and so far, joe biden has a commanding lead in that county. >> all right, tom, you and i have been studying these pathways really for both campaigns. the biden campaign tonight very hopeful that if they can hold onto the states where they're currently leading right now, they believe that's their path to the white house. >> that's right. for the purpose of this segment, we haven't projected alaska, but we're going to give that to president trump, because historically that's how it breaks. but look at the path for joe biden tonight. arizona, he's on top there, if he wins there and nevada, look at this number, david, 270. he gets to become president. now, it's a different story for

president trump. >> that's right. broken record for me and you, tom, we talk about pennsylvania and it's even more crucial as we get closer to that key number of 270. >> that's right. so, look, the president's electoral votes are right there, 217. he has to win pennsylvania, north carolina, georgia, but look up there, it's still not enough. it is not 270. he has to come out west and either win nevada or arizona. it's a little bit more difficult, i could seven say much more difficult for the president tonight, david. >> all right, the real reason i wanted to check in with you is to make sure you had a pulse, you were still awake, tom. doing a great job. >> i'm awake, david, and the board is juiced up, maybe a little tired. >> all right, we'll see you at 10:00 p.m. for our prime time special. tom, thank you. joe biden speaking late today, appearing with his running mate senator kamala harris, appearing cautious but confident. biden saying every vote must be counted. late last night in wilmington, calling on americans to keep the faith, to have patience. and what we heard from biden just a short time ago about what he sees in the next few days ahead. mary bruce covering every step of this campaign, she's with the biden team tonight. >> reporter: tonight, a

confident joe biden with kamala harris by his side, declaring victory is within his reach. >> i'm not here to declare that we've won, but i am here to report when the count is finished, we believe we will be the winners. >> reporter: biden says he's ahead in wisconsin, ahead in michigan, confident he flipped arizona and feeling good about pennsylvania. and he added this -- >> of special significance to me is that we've won with the majority of the american people. indeed senator harris and i are on track to win more votes than any ticket in the history of this country. >> reporter: overnight, just after midnight, biden telling supporters to keep the faith. >> we're going to have to be patient. and it ain't over until every vote is counted, every ballot is counted. >> reporter: today, promising their votes matter. >> every vote must be counted. no one is going to take our

democracy away from us, not now, not ever. we the people will not be silenced. we the people will not be bullied. we the people will not surrender. >> reporter: biden's legal team says they're prepared for whatever the president's lawyers throw at them. looking ahead, biden says he's ready to start uniting the country after this bitter campaign. >> i know this won't be easy. i'm not naive. but i also know this as well -- to make progress, we have to stop treating our opponents as enemies. we are not enemies. what brings us together as americans is so much stronger than anything that can tear us apart. >> all right, let's get right to mary bruce tonight, with us live from wilmington, delaware. and mary, we showed that path just a few moments ago, the biden camp very confident if they can win where joe biden leads there in arizona and nevada, that that's their path to 270? >> reporter: that's true, david.

and tonight, they are also confident that they have a strong showing in pennsylvania, too. and while they have been careful not to declare victory, they are moving ahead with their transition plans. today, officially launching their transition website, buildbackbetter.com. david? >> that's always a sign of confidence, too. mary bruce, thanks to you again tonight. president trump was behind closed doors at the white house today. he did come before the cameras overnight. it was after 2:00 a.m. in the morning, declaring, we have already won it. with millions of ballots still being counted in this country, today, his campaign taking legal action now. and here's our chief white house correspondent jonathan karl with what he's learning tonight. >> reporter: tonight, president trump is huddled with aides inside the white house, getting ready for a fight. his team has already filed a lasu lasuits in michigan, georgia and pennsylvania and demanded a recount in wisconsin, all as votes are still being counted. late election night, the president was defiant, speaking at the white house after 2:00 a.m., falsely declaring the election was rigged, the race

was over and that he had won. >> we were getting ready to win this election. frankly, we did win this election. we did win this election. >> reporter: in fact, the election went smoothly, without significant disruptions and millions of votes are still being counted. in some states, as expected, the count is taking a little longer due to the dramatic increase in mail-in voting during the pandemic. today, even the senate majority leader republican mitch mcconnell took issue with the president's words. >> claiming you've won the election is different from finishing the counting. >> reporter: republican senator marco rubio was more blunt, tweeting, "taking days to count legally cast votes is not fraud." today, the president's team filed suit in michigan, claiming they have not been provided "meaningful access" to several counting locations, though they made no allegation the vote was tainted. they are also demanding a

recount in wisconsin, though they trail by some 20,000 votes and election officials there say everything has been counted. >> and we should point out, jon, that our teams in michigan have reported that there are both democrats and republicans watching at the polls, as they always do in these presidential elections. and in addition, jon, to what you laid out there, we know the president's team is also asking to join that lawsuit to block some of the ballots from being counted in pennsylvania. these are the mail-in ballots postmarked by election day but still arriving in the few days afterward. bottom line, big picture here, jon, what are you hearing from the campaign, what's this legal strategy going forward? >> reporter: the legal strategy, david, seems to boil down to this -- stopping the count in places where donald trump is ahead, pennsylvania, continuing to count, or counting again, in places where he is behind, wisconsin, nevada and arizona. and ultimately, from the president himself, the strategy seems to be to sow doubts about the integrity of the election

itself, which would seem to be a reflection of his belief that when the counting is done, that he will be behind. he will have lost. >> all right, jon karl, we'll see you tonight at 10:00, as well. thank you, jon. and as we mentioned, pennsylvania will be crucial, especially for president trump. and tonight, take a look at this. livestreaming from pennsylvania, one of the vote count sites in philadelphia, more than a million ball-in ballots still being counted. so, when will we know? abc's eva pilgrim back in philadelphia tonight. >> reporter: tonight, an army of counters in pennsylvania racing to process millions of mail-in ballots that could decide the race in the crucial battleground state. the governor urging patience. >> the delay that we're seeing is a sign that the system is working. >> reporter: the president right now has the lead in the keystone state thanks to the in-person votes being counted first, but now, that mountain of early mail-in votes being tabulated, mostly from the democratic strongholds of philadelphia, its suburbs and allegheny county. president trump won pennsylvania

in 2016 by just 44,000 votes, less than 1%. this state now crucial in his path to re-election. trump tweeting, "they are finding biden votes all over the place." but pennsylvania's secretary of state making it clear, these mail-in ballots arrived in time for election day. >> the vote count, as i've said many times, is never done on the day of election night and the counties are doing this accurately as quickly as they possibly can. >> eva pilgrim back with us tonight from pennsylvania. and eva, we've been saying this for so many nights now, i know americans are really used to the tradition of networks projecting winners on election night, if we can, sometimes deep into the early morning hours. we knew this year would be different because of the pandemic. and that early vote, it's going to take a lot longer to count. the secretary of state right there in pennsylvania urging caution, urging patience, promising to count every vote but saying, this is going to take some time. >> reporter: david, right now, there are about 1.1 million outstanding ballots. biden is trailing by 270,000

votes. that means he needs 660,000 votes in order to win. that seems like a steep uphill climb, but the biden camp feels like that is within their reach, because those votes are from their democratic strongholds. the trump campaign, however, confident the president will carry pennsylvania. david? >> that's really interesting. that's just a calculation from our political team, the best we can, about 700,000 votes joe biden would need of the million remaining, which, as you say, eva, seems really high, but those are urban areas, so, we'll see as the night progresses and the days, because it's pennsylvania we're talking about. and we should remind our viewers at home that four years ago, it was just 44,000 votes that donald trump won pennsylvania over hillary clinton and really both parties tonight say this is going to be a very close state again. >> reporter: really narrow margin. former democratic governor ed rendell predicting that this will be another really tight race. the difference of 100,000 votes or less. he's picking biden for the win.

david? >> eva pilgrim with us again tonight. eva, thanks again. and as we reported just a moment ago, the trump campaign now taking legal action in pennsylvania and filing that lawsuit to stop the counting in michigan and to get increased access to observe ballot counting. the michigan attorney general responding tonight, the office saying their elections have been conducted transparently and with access provided for both political parties and the public. so, let's bring in our chief legal analyst dan abrams tonight on these legal moves and dan, first question on either of these cases, how strong is the president's case here? >> well, let's start with michigan. they're not going to stop counting votes. this is clearly an effort by the trump campaign to at least delay the process, possibly prevent them from certifying the state, because even if they're right, even if they have been denied access, the remedy is, give them the access and then potentially challenge the ballots later. you don't stop counting votes as a result. >> and dan, in pennsylvania, i mentioned this just moments ago, lawyers for the president filing

with the supreme court, joining that lawsuit now, and these involve the mail-in ballots that were postmarked by election day but then arrived in that three-day period after election day. is the court likely to act here? >> right. those have already been segregated. pennsylvania keeping them in a separate area, just in case. two key questions. number one, do those ballots determine the outcome in pennsylvania and number two, does pennsylvania determine the outcome of the election? if the answer to both those questions is yes, i think the supreme court will hear the case. but still going to be an uphill battle for the trump campaign, because you're talking about literally discarding votes with the potential of it having the impact of winning the election. >> all right, you're going to be tracking this for us in the days and weeks ahead. dan abrams tonight, thank you. now to the battle in the south, georgia and north carolina. as you know, very close in both of those states. democrats with their strongest performance in many years there. the president ahead in both of those states.

in georgia, the votes in key counties are still being counted. there have been some delays. i want to get to steve osunsami in atlanta tonight. steve, what are you learning? >> reporter: well, david, if biden were to win here, he would be accomplishing something that even president obama wasn't able to do twice here, and this is a state with a large black population. biden's team is still hoping for a surprise here in georgia and the numbers show that it is indeed mathematically possible. we're talking about 60,000 votes or so. at least two blue counties here are going to be counting absentee ballots into the night. that said, the math and the vote still favor the president here and his campaign is liking what they see, not only here in georgia, but also in north carolina, and this isn't just talk. and about those delays in the counting. one person i talked with at a county today explained that while most people would like microwave food results, what's happening here is actually a grill. char marks and all. david? >> that's one way to put it.

steve osunsami, thanks so much. georgia, north carolina, so close. we saw this across the country in the overnight hours. arizona, nevada in the west, two other states we're watching. strong support for the president, strong support for joe biden, with a slim lead in both of them. there are a significant number of votes still to be counted. so, let's get to whit johnson. he's live in phoenix tonight, and whit, what should we be watching as we head into the evening tonight. >> reporter: david, joe biden is still trying to hold onto that lead here in arizona, but as you mentioned, there are still about 600,000 outstanding ballots. most of them from right here in maricopa county. and these are absentee ballots that people actually dropped off in person at the polls either on election day or over the weekend prior. we do expect to start getting results from those ballots later on tonight. in the meantime, in nevada, where 86% of the vote is reporting, joe biden is holding onto just the narrowest of leads, we're talking just about 7,600 votes separating him from donald trump. but there are still mail-in

ballots left to be counted, mostly from areas around las vegas and reno. david? >> all right, whit johnson with us tonight. again, that image being repeated across the nation in so many of these battlegrounds. thank you, whit. when we come back here tonight, the battle for control of the senate and the key senate race that made so many national headlines decided today. not actors, who've got their eczema under control. with less eczema, you can show more skin. so roll up those sleeves. and help heal your skin from within with dupixent. dupixent is the first treatment of its kind that continuously treats moderate-to-severe eczema, or atopic dermatitis, even between flare ups. dupixent is a biologic, and not a cream or steroid. many people taking dupixent saw clear or almost clear skin, and, had significantly less itch. don't use if you're allergic to dupixent. serious allergic reactions can occur, including anaphylaxis, which is severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems,

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>>. think are stale counting ballots in this unprecedented election. >> i'm dion lim live in pennsylvania tonight where the drama is heating up and the race for president is just too close to call. >> i'm liz kreutz with a big look at the presidential race and a look at the polls, how is it once again the polling leading up to election day seems to have gotten it so wrong. abc 7 news at 6:00 starts right now. >> announcer: your voice, your vote, this is abc 7 news. we are a country on the edge. the vote counting continues here in the bay area and in states across the country because we still don't know who will win the white house. i'm ama daetz. >> i'm dan ashley. despite setting a record for receiving the most votes of any presidential candidate in american history, joe biden has not won the electoral college. in the popular vote, he has more than 71 million votes. that beats the record set in 2008 by